Tag: Sunset Strip

Photography Exhibit Celebrating The 35th Anniversary Of The Release Of Appetite For Destruction From the First 50 Gigs

Published on by veglamLeave a comment

“There isn’t a better person to release any material to do with the coming together and the history of Guns N’ Roses and where it went and what was going on behind the scenes than Marc.” — Slash

TICKETS + INFO:  HERE

Credit: Marc Canter

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release Appetite for Destruction,  The First 50 Gigs: Guns N’ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction podcast will be hosting a photo exhibition of Marc Canter’s photography on July 21st, 35 years to the date of the release of the seminal album at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood. 

The video podcast The First 50 Gigs is the creation of  Reckless Road: Guns N’ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction authors Marc Canter and Jason Porath. The book which was published in 2008 and won an IPPY for Pop Culture Book of the Year was just the tip of the iceberg of an archive created by Marc Canter; photographer, music historian, and owner of the world-famous Canter’s Deli. Canter captured the band’s formative years and the heyday of the Sunset Strip music scene. The project was designed as a gift to fans to unlock the stories behind the most famous songs from the ever-elusive band, in particular the younger fans, many of whom were not even born when Appetite came out. It’s an opportunity for them to learn about the stories behind the making of Appetite For Destruction.  The show which is part of the Pantheon Podcast network is available on all major services, with premium tiered subscription offers available on Spotify and Patreon. 

The First 50 Gigs project has been years in the making, “Marc’s massive and one-of-a-kind archive on the early days of Guns N’ Roses and the first fifty gigs of the Appetite lineup of Guns N’ Roses is unprecedented,” says Porath. “ Marc truly captured lightning in a bottle and the power of those images he and Jack Lue created will now be amplified by first-hand accounts by the people who were there, giving audiences a true play-by-play unfolding of events.”  The video version of the show showcases never before seen audio and video from Marc’s archive, along with bonus episodes available via subscription on Spotify, and a premium subscription via Patreon that includes early access to the video version of each episode, along with access to exclusive photo galleries, merchandise giveaways and more. 

The exhibit at the Bourbon Room will feature photos, videos, and ephemera featured in the podcast in addition to never before seen content from the early years of Guns n’ Roses leading into the recording of their first and most iconic album. 

https://www.first50gigs.com

https://www.facebook.com/first50gigs

https://www.instagram.com/first50gigs

Vicky Hamilton – “I decided to be the best female RnR manager in the world…”

Published on by veglamLeave a comment

If you own more than one 80s glam metal album then you’re probably familiar with the name Vicky Hamilton, since you could see it on almost every thank list on these vinyl inserts. I briefly met Vicky at Bar Sinister in L.A. in 2005, and when Robbie Quine (The BARBARELLATONES) told me “You should talk to my friend Vicky”, I thought it would be interesting to send her a few questions…

Can you tell us about your background? When did you move to Los Angeles?

I dropped our of art school in Indiana in 1980, I moved to Hollywood in 1981 where I decided to be the best female rock and roll manager in the world…
I had 2 bands from the midwest that I was pumping when I first moved to LA and that is where it started. I was also a record buyer for Licorice Pizza Record Store on the Sunset Strip.

How did you start managing bands?

By accident! My boyfriend in Indiana was in a band and then the band broke up. I decided to manage his career and help him find a new band. I got the management bug…I worked with 3 bands in Indiana and then decided I needed to move to Hollywood, as to take it to the next level, I needed to be where the action was.

I read that you helped MÖTLEY CRÜE in their early days… In those days, did you ever imagine they could have become so big?

I loved Motley Crue from the beginning. What they were doing then (1981) was really fresh as the glam/metal thing was just starting. LA until the Crue was pretty punk rock. Yes, I did think they could be huge, and I saw it as a new trend in rock…which it was.

EarlyCrue
You also managed POISON. I’ve always read that despite the party image, the band was a hard working one, were they?

No one worked harder than Poison, they didn’t have day jobs, they made promoting the band their day job. They didn’t take “no” for an answer and they were the kings of self promo.

PoisonLips2

Do you remember the first time you’ve heard about GUNS N’ ROSES? Then the first time you met them? They lived at your place for a while, right?

I met Axl and Izzy when they were in Hollywood Rose. I was a booking agent at the time and they came by my office and played me some tracks. I was blown away, and booked them sight unseen. I met Slash around the same time, he was playing guitar in another band I booked called Black Sheep. I booked both bands on a show with Stryper at the Music Machine and that was when GNR started coming together. Yes, they all lived with me, except Duff who lived with his girlfriend while we were shopping a record deal. You’ll have to buy my book to get that story though…hopefully will be out in the next few months.

Gnrearly

When did the band actually start to make enough money to live off their music? Just after the release of “Appetite For Destruction”?

They got an advance from Geffen, but burnt thorough that pretty quickly. I think it took at least a year after the record came out before they had real money to live on.

Talking about managing STRYPER. That must have been very different from dealing with Axl & friends…

I worked as a management consultant to Stryper and Motley Crue, I wasn’t their manager. Surprisingly, a band is a band whether they are Christian or not, the business is pretty much the same. I didn’t live with Stryper and they didn’t date strippers or have drug habits, but it was all about business, just like GNR.

Didn’t you feel that the magic faded away when Steven Adler got fired and Izzy left?

Yes. Those five guys had the magic. When you start taking pieces of the magic away, the sound is different. I don’t think it will ever be as good as it was when those 5 were together.

Are you still in touch with them? Do you think they will ever reunite with the original line-up?

I talk to Slash on a fairly regular basis and I am friends with all the other guys. I have not spoken to Axl since the mid 90’s unfortunately. I wish him well, and hope one day were will get to chat. I don’t think the original lineup will ever get back together, I would love it, but I think the chances are slim to none.

meandslash
You also got FASTER PUSSYCAT to sign with Elektra, right?

Yes, I took Faster Pussycat to my friend Peter Philbin who was an A&R man at Elektra at the time. Peter signed them.

Faster Pussycat early
Any other bands you managed that should have deserved to make it big, but didn’t?

Many! Salty Dog had a good run, but could have been bigger. Lostboys, featuring Randy O from Odin. Darling Cruel signed to Polygram but the record didn’t get as much attention as it should have. Rick Parker, I,Napoleon, Half Way Home, Shadowland, Graveyard Train…all bands I brought or worked with at Geffen, could have had bigger careers…as recently as The Art…sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to this business, but you have to make the best of it.

I read in an interview that it wasn’t always easy for you on a financial level during those years, have you ever thought about stopping band management at some point?

Financially the music business has never taken care of me other than the years I spent at Geffen and Capitol. I have never worked with young bands for the money, it’s always been for the love of the music. Somebody has to try and break new talent, and I have had more success at it than most. Also I had a Grammy win on my own label Small Hairy Dog with June Carter Cash in 2000, I just loved what she did and no one wanted to sign her, so I started my own label to get her music out there.

Were you still managing bands during the 90s?

Yes, I have never quit managing bands! I managed Sex With Lurch, The Art from Sydney Australia. I worked with a great irish band named The Future Kings Of Spain, among many others…

Then you were a booking agent at Bar Sinister in the 00s. Have you done this for any other clubs?

Yes I worked at Bar Sinister for 9 years! It’s a great club even now! I booked The Malibu Inn for awhile…I promote a few shows still here and there.

Do you still manage bands today in this Internet era?

DMeyerI currently manage Diana Meyer http://www.dianameyermusic.com who is amazing singer songwriter who rocks and Co-manage Talk Like June featuring Suzanne Harper http://www.talklikejune.com Talk Like June is California Country and about to play Nashville Jan 17-23, I’m going with them, I’m excited!

TalkLikeJune

Can you tell us about “Glitter Beach”, the musical play you wrote with Robbie of The BARBARELLATONES?

Glitter Beach is mine and Robbie’s love child. It’s a bout a Glam rock surfer dude named Reef Bedrock who invents Glam rock music in 1969. Imagine Rocky Horror meets Hedwig with a little Bowie and Dick Dale thrown in. We are planning on doing a couple more workshops in 2015 hopefully in LA, Vegas and Miami!! It’s such a great musical, Robbie out did himself writing the music for this and it is all about misfits coming together…it’s a beautiful play and I know one day it will be huge! I am hoping to write another play with Robbie soon, I love working with him.

You run the Aesthetic V blog. Can you tell us about this too?

Yes, I am doing a video blog called Aesthetic V Blog http://www.aestheticvblog.com My partner is Micheal Kraemer who was my street scout at Geffen. Micheal shoots the videos and takes care of the website and I put together the interviews. It’s all about the creative process. Its about finding the muse, weather it’s music, art, writing, film…all things creative. Its a way to expose new talent to the world, and get advice from people who are working in the arts. Again a labor of love, but hopefully it will start making enough money through ad sells on the website so we can keep it going. It’s all about the internet these days, and I have had a lot of help from some of my friends like Andy Stack at YouTube and Gregory Markel at Infuse Creative to learn this new medium.

MeandMicheal

Are you still working on your autobiography? Please tell us a bit about it…

I have finished my book! It’s called Appetite For Dysfunction. It’s my life story about all the bands I have worked with, my creative journey through the arts, writing etc. It also goes into my personal life and the process of getting sober etc. It will have a lot of great pictures and stories from the humble beginning of the rock artist you know and love. It’s also about being a woman in the business. I have been working on it for 7 years. The book is finished, just needs a professional edit and I have a manager who is shopping it currently for a book deal, the book has some strong interest. I’m very excited! Getting this book out there is a dream come true for me…hopefully by summer!

meandstevenadle
Vicky Hamilton
Artist Mgmt & Creator of Aesthetic V Blog
aestheticv@gmail.com
http://www.aestheticvblog.com
http://www.vickyhamilton.com

Tragic Romance “Hollywood Daze”

Published on by veglamLeave a comment

tragic_romanceTRAGIC ROMANCE was one of these bands that haunted the Sunset Strip in the late 80s. Lost into the glam metal/sleaze rock tsunami, TRAGIC ROMANCE shared stages with bands like JUNKYARD, JETBOY, BANG TANGO, VAIN, WARRANT, etc.
This CD offers us songs from that time, and also two songs (“Little Miss Innocent” and “Shameless”) that were recorded in 2012 for FnA records. There’s some good party rock songs on here (“All Wound Up”, “Shameless”), and Billy’s glammy vocals pefectly fits. Of course, you also get the compulsory power ballads (“Satin Sheets”, “Just Couldn’t Bear It”)… TRAGIC ROMANCE were good, but not different from many of their contemporaries, which eventually led them to play a heavier, darker kind of rock in 1989 as the style was evolving with bands like LOVE/HATE, BANG TANGO and JANE’S ADDICTION. “Love and Revolution”, “Vampire Blues”, or “25 Days” are close to what these bands were doing, which shows that any record label support really could have helped… The last two songs “Seasons”, and “Denied” actually get close to MOTHER LOVE BONE, or even ALICE IN CHAINS and SOUNDGARDEN.
You’ll find old flyers and pics as the album artwork. A good tribute and testimony of two eras in one!/Laurent C.

http://fnarecords.net/

Poison “Poison’d”

Published on by veglamLeave a comment
Already 20 years ! It’s hard to believe it’s been that long… I can clearly remember when I first saw the video for “Cry Tough” on TV and then rushed to the record store to buy the LP. I’m sure I’m not the only one remembering these days when your thrash metal school friends were making fun of you for loving such a bubblegum rock’n’roll band in full make-up. POISON went through different phases since their early glam days but still remained to stay themselves though they had their share of band problems, inner fights, highs and lows through the years. To celebrate this anniversary, the band decided to record some of their favourite rock covers with the help of famous producer Don Was. It’s great to see that the first three tracks on this CD are all songs by original glam rock artists (“Little Willy” by The SWEET, “Suffragette City” by DAVID BOWIE and “I Never Cry” by ALICE COOPER, a song that particularly sounds good with Bret Michael’s voice.) The band didn’t forget to pay tribute to classic rock heroes such as The ROLLING STONES (“Dead Flowers”), The WHO (“Squeeze Box”), TOM PETTY & The HEARTBREAKERS (“I Need To Know”) or The CARS (“Just What I Needed”.) Fans already knew about “Rock’N Roll All Night” (KISS) or “Your Mama Don’t Dance” (LOGGINS & MESSINA) but it’s nice to have them on this record which can be considered not only as a celebration but also as POISON’s ultimate cover song collection to this day. Most covers on here are not that different from the original versions but POISON really managed to make them their own, you can only think “this is POISON!” when you first hear them. In these days of hair band revival, this CD will probably help POISON to reach the top of the bill again especially in the US since they will be on tour with RATT and WHITE LION this summer for more than 50 dates!… And as their GRAND FUNK RAILROAD cover says, they’re an American band, aren’t they? 20 years and I’m still POISONed! /Laurent C.http://www.poisonweb.com

Jetboy “The Glam Years Movie And CD”

Published on by veglamLeave a comment
NOTHING BUT A GOOD TIME…
The song remains the same. “Feel the shake. Feel the Earth shake.” JETBOY had two major-label record contracts, extravagant wardrobes, winning attitudes, the Hanoi Rocks bass-player, and mostly unremarkable songs. Even so, these Sunset Strip second-stringers from San Francisco have long been due for a reassessment. A few of their boppy, happy-go-lucky, early songs, like “Car Sex” and “Don’t Mess With My Hair” may have shown some bubble-gummy promise, in a Poison, or Enuff Z’Nuff sort of way. Lighthearted, campy, tinny-pop, with cowbell, and mohawks! The problem with pop-metal, is that it often achieved neither. Few bands can really effectively be all things to all people, like Van Halen, and Cheap Trick, were.
JETBOY were, however, a fantastic live band, in some of this ancient footage, vocalist Mickey Finn reminds me alot of the Trash Brat’s Brian Oblivion, in the old days. I would have loved to have attended their club shows–and believe me, so would you. What they may have lacked in songwriting ability, they kinda made up for with chutzpah and personality. It’s 2,008, and there’s nothing with the sparkle of JETBOY. Here’s what I like about those cats-they had lots of style, they wanted to entertain the people, and they really seemed like they sincerely appreciated the perks of Flash-Metal Infamy. They weren’t like those insufferable grunge-ingrates, who forever moaned and bitched about the hardships of stardom. Much of their music still seems lite-weight to me, not alot of substance, but perfectly enjoyable in an Autograph or Poison kinda way.
This DVD is a wonderful time-capsule that really takes you back to an era when music was still magical, as Billy Rowe says in the accompanying documentary. Alot of their pedestrian hair-band rock has aged extremely well, and they’ve been playing shows with American Heartbreak bassist, Michael Butler, ably filling-in for N.Y. Doll, Sami Yaffa. They overcame alot of hard luck and bad breaks, but still come-off as really charming, lovable, and endearingly humble, upbeat dudes. You can’t help but like ’em. I’m so thrilled to own this DVD, cos it helps me more fully appreciate a band I never got to experience, properly, back then. American Heartbreak were one of my favorite bands of the last decade, so they really ended up being the bridge for my revisiting the whole Jetboy saga. I’ve sortof been converted, if nothing else, they were fun.
Listening to ’em all these years later, they make me feel like putting on my old Cathouse t-shirt, and, what? I dunno. Drivin’ fast, or maybe rattin’ my hair? Or maybe just playing “Feel The Shake” really, really LOUD! I was much too hard on Jetboy as a kid, expecting them to be something they clearly were not:Hanoi Rocks, or Lords Of The New Church. Upon more recent investigation, I’ve come to appreciate them like Sour-Patch candy-absolutely no nutritional value, but tasty, fun, colorful, and sweet. (-Anguish Young)http://www.jetboyrocks.com

Seventh Veil “Nasty Skin” EP

Published on by veglamLeave a comment
Named after West Hollywood’s famous strip club (Nikki Sixx suggested the name to the Italian band’ singer when signing autographs at Sunset Strip Music Festival last year), SEVENTH VEIL introduce themselves with this 3 song EP, but some of the guys already played together in the past in a band called LASTRIDE.
No big surprise when it comes to the influences as you’ll find some “Ten Second To Love” guitar riff in “Rock’n’Roll Veils” and more generally lots of 80s hard rock references (“Nasty Skin” has a bit of a DOKKEN touch in its chorus), but SEVENTH VEIL also gets closer to punk’n’roll on “Jack N’ Roll”.
Short but quite promising. Keep your eye on the money, I mean on this Verona Crew!/Laurent C.http://www.seventhveil.jimdo.com